kayb

Thanks for that! I never use a whole quart of buttermilk. I'll be freezing from now on. I used yogurt the other day to make blueberry muffins. I had yogurt I needed to use, and I figured it'd up the protein content of the muffins. I used a cup; my muffin recipe calls for 3/4 cup milk. Worked perfectly. I also like using beer in savory quick breads. If the powdered skim milk leaves you cold, get full-fat dry milk the next time. Taste still isn't like fresh milk, but it's closer.

Well, it looks gorgeous. I don't like meringue. The whipped cream topping is perfect.

If I come visit, will you make me one? I love coconut cream pie.

Best soft shell crab in the world: Antoine's, NOLA. Lord, but I love them.

Wonderful! Can't wait to hear the details and get it on my calendar! Excited to show you "my town!"

I reuse the produce bags if they're fairly clean and can be turned inside out and rinsed off with hot water. They dry turned upside down over the bottle of dishwashing liquid on the back of the sink. I particularly wash out and reuse those green plastic produce bags. They're pricy.

Found myself in Memphis, so stopped by my favorite MIddle Eastern deli. Falafel wrap, dressed with lettuce, tomato, dill pickle (!) and tzatziki. Dolmades. Baklava. Brought some of all of it home. Will revisit that today.

My favorite was Rosario's. On the edge of downtown (you come out the front gate of the Alamo, hang a left, and it's maybe two miles) in what looks like it might have once been a car dealership building. Good, good Mexican/TexMex. MARVELOUS mojitos.

I looked at several recipes and the filling looks for all the world like what we call down here a chess pie. My mother used to be fond of telling how she'd made two chess pies for a church pot luck, and put them on the kitchen table to cool. Came back through the kitchen to find me, at about age 3, sitting atop the table, with a big knife, having whacked a chunk out of one pie that I was busy stuffing in my face, and having marked a chunk in the other pie that I planned to cut next. I do not remember this stellar incident of good taste. But she swore it was true.

Ahhh, Sonic, that paragon of Southern drive-in cuisine. You will occasionally find one down here that sells Koolickles. Get a big gallon jug of kosher dills at the supermarket. Pour off the brine. Make up a half-gallon of cherry KoolAid. Pour over pickles. Let sit at least overnight in the fridge; better if you wait two or three days. If I had a dollar for every one of these I'd eaten or bought the kids at the ballpark concession stand...

How sad. I could give up beef much more easily than pork. I'd never make it as a Jew or a Muslim.

Blueberry muffins, with an absolutely unhealthy amount of butter. Muffin s made with Greek yogurt to up the protein content, plus I needed to use the yogurt.

Falafel.

Memphis: There are a lot of great places. I would normally recommend Felicia Suzanne's, which has for years been my favorite restaurant in Memphis, except the last time I was there was the only time I've ever eaten there that it didn't make me say, "Oh, wow!" McEwens and Flight are both really good, downtown; Spindini, on South Main, is the fourth or fifth generation of the historic Grisanti family of Italian restauranteurs; Coletta's, on South Parkway, is oldtime, classic Italian, the oldest restaurant in Memphis; Paulette's, in the River Inn, is a good French bistro. "Out in the country" west of Memphis in Arkansas about 30 minutes, there's Uncle John's, a small-town Italian joint that has MARVELOUS homemade ravioli. I'm talking to die for, here. You take your own wine (no corkage fee!). Open Thursday-Saturday nights only, in Crawfordsville, AR. Of course, there's barbecue. The top 'cue places, in my book, are Central, Payne's, Interstate, Cozy Corner and The BarBQ Shop. Depends on the specific entree and the time of day you want to go. Do not bother with the Rendezvous. Do have a drink in the lobby bar at the Peabody, about 4:30, in time to watch the 5 p.m. duck march. Breakfast, there are a couple of "must" places: There's Brother Juniper's, out by Memphis State, and there's Bryant's, an old-school diner on Summer Avenue. Both are magnificent. Let me know. Would love a chance to meet. In Nashville, there's one choice that stand out above everything: The Catbird Seat. 10-course tasting menu. Experimental foods. Modernist cuisine. Stunning. Get a reservation now, if you can. Other good choices are Husk, and an old-time favorite, Demos Steak and Spaghetti House, in downtown. The Pancake Pantry is great for breakfast, but be ready to stand in line. I'm fond of Pfunky Griddle, where you cook your own pancakes on an in-table grill, and add the add-ins you want. I'd be thrilled at the opportunity to meet you in Memphis (an hour for me) and eat any meal you can accommodate in your schedule. I've got a host of other lunch spot recommendations, and can come up with a hatful of other dinner suggestions as well.

You can always pause Stevie Ray and start him back when you get back.

There is certainly that!

We have blueberries just ripening in Arkansas (upper southern US)

I will stick to the hash browns and apple pies, thanks anyway.

Baffert had it going on, didn't he?

Your boyfriend is one fortunate man. I ain't seen the man yet I'd do that for.

Also Wright's bacon. With a couple of slabs of a brioche-ish bread I'd made a while back, sliced and frozen. Because I was in the mood for French Toast. I let my eyes overload my plate. I ate about half of this. Just can't eat sweets like I used to.

A trio of salads, picked up from a local caterer yesterday afternoon, because I could and I didn't want to cook. Marvelous pasta salad, nothing-out-of-the-ordinary fruit salad, and really good chicken salad. Note -- I'd called in an order and was hustling to get there before they closed at 2 on Friday afternoon (they're 25 minutes away and I left at 1:30). Several traffic laws may have been broken. In a rush, when the kid asked me how much I wanted, I said, "a quart of each." Can I just tell you, a quart of chicken salad is a helluva lot of chicken salad? Anyone want a chicken salad sandwich?

Here's my haul from the market this morning: New potatoes, eggplant, blueberries, blackberries, romaine, onions, zucchini, yellow squash, peaches, Carolina gold tomatoes, Arkansas Travelers tomatoes. I'll have all this in my garden, except the eggplants and fruit and potatoes, by next weekend, but nothing yet. Lots of green tomatoes on the vines. Beans are looking nice. Grass crop is looking quite healthy. June and July are prime market months. We'll start getting sweet corn around the end of June. I've found a local grower who is growing Silver Queen, and already reserved 120 ears to cut off and freeze. My two rows of Kentucky Wonders are looking pretty good, albeit fighting with the grass. Got to get out this week and stick them. Maybe Monday morning.

Just marvelous! I like the subs as well. I thought the kohlrabi WAS scallops, sliced in half horizontally, which intrigued me. Congratulations on your anniversary, and I, too, hope you celebrate No. 22 there next year!

That sucker has showed up with a vengeance. I have named it "The Beast." This is what it wanted for breakfast. Yesterday, it wanted Thai, so I fed it panang curry, followed by frozen yogurt to chill the burn. I may gain back those seven pounds I didn't really intend to lose.